Hercog, Medina Garrigues reach Palermo Open final

Polona Hercog of Slovenia reached her second straight WTA final by defeating top-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy 6-2, 6-2 at the Palermo Open on Saturday.

Written by Associated Press

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Palermo:

Polona Hercog of Slovenia reached her second straight WTA final by defeating top-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy 6-2, 6-2 at the Palermo Open on Saturday.

The seventh-seeded Hercog, who won her maiden title in Bastad last week, will play four-time Palermo champion Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain on Sunday. It's the first Palermo final since 2007 without an Italian player.

Hercog eased to a 5-0 lead before Pennetta, who won here in 2009 and was runner-up last year, found some rhythm against her hard-hitting opponent.

The 20-year-old Hercog used two early breaks in the second to set up the victory.

The fifth-seeded Medina Garrigues defeated Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-3 to reach the final, 10 years after she won her first career title at the tournament.

The 28-year-old Medina Garrigues, who also won from 2004-06 can win her 11th career title and second of the season after winning in April at Estoril, Portugal.

Medina Garrigues saved two set points before racking up four games in a row to take the opener.

The eighth-seeded Cetkovska, in her first semi-final, broke her opponent twice in the second set but struggled to hold her own serve.